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Monday, June 20, 2005
WAKARUSA
OK. So. Went to Wakarusa this past weekend. It's one of them music/camping/drinking/smoking stuff festivals..with hippies and stuff. We only went one day, because we knew a person that had tickets to get rid of. Saturday. Saw, among others, Blueground Undergrass, Jazz Mandolin Project, Splitlip Rayfield, Neko Case (I don't know where her boyfriends were), and Wilco. First of all, an observation: watching a whole bunch of self-important jam bands play for several hours, and then watching Wilco, makes you realize that Wilco is a real live rock and roll band. Whereas all the other bands are pretty much just a bunch of hacks. Sure, they can play their instruments, but they can't make any music that can hold my attention for more than about 2 minutes. It's kind of the Dave Matthews Band Syndrome (DMBS) that Bennett once diagnosed. All of the musicians are obviously very gifted at playing their instruments, but they don't know how to make music with them. See also Joe Satriani.
Some caveats.....Splitlip Rayfield was actually pretty good, if you like 600 mph bluegrass about cars and trucks. Neko Case was also very good. Apart from that though...I have to agree with someone else who commented on the Lawrence.com webpage who was questioning why anyone would pay $120 to see a bunch of no-name bands (Wilco and some other notable exceptions excepted) that normally couldn't even half-fill a pub for a $5 show in downtown Lawrence. I didn't wait around to see String Cheese. I was tired of hippies by then. It sucks to be at an outdoor concert and not be able to breathe because there is so much smoke (tobacco and otherwise).
So, it's official. Wilco is one of the (few) great bands of our time. I sort of remember a forgettable performance (I know..) they put on in D.C. in 2000. They must have been tired. Or depressed. Or really drunk. They were outstanding on Saturday. I wish they would have played longer, and I wish they would have chosen to play a few more songs from their back catalog, rather than Spiders (Spiders was cool live, but for my bucks I like short, tight songs better than 12-minute long, feedback-ridden freakouts), and I wish they had done a Uncle Tupelo reunion, since Son Volt was there, but all in all, it was a great show. They played most of the songs off A Ghost is Born, a few off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (War on War, Jesus, etc., and, predictably, Heavy Metal Drummer), two off Summer Teeth, only one off Being There (Kingpin - sadly not Forget the Flowers or The Lonely 1), and none off A.M.. They also played two off the Mermaid Avenue albums - Airline to Heaven (they must be fond of this one, because I remember them playing it in D.C., too), and Hesitating Beauty, which Abbie so inexplicably and adorably titled My Dear Elaine, on the mix-tape she made me.
After seeing them live, I will likely spend the next few weeks re-listening to all their old (and not-so-old) albums. When I first heard Wilco (back in about '96), I remember thinking that they seemed like a band that would be around for awhile - a feeling that was reinforced after I bought Being There, and spent about 3 months incessantly absorbing it. I no longer have any doubt as to whether they will be remembered as a great band. They will be.
Oh yeah. And some guy died. At the festival.
Yeah, I know. Europe pictures and stuff. I'm working on it. Kinda.
-m
OK. So. Went to Wakarusa this past weekend. It's one of them music/camping/drinking/smoking stuff festivals..with hippies and stuff. We only went one day, because we knew a person that had tickets to get rid of. Saturday. Saw, among others, Blueground Undergrass, Jazz Mandolin Project, Splitlip Rayfield, Neko Case (I don't know where her boyfriends were), and Wilco. First of all, an observation: watching a whole bunch of self-important jam bands play for several hours, and then watching Wilco, makes you realize that Wilco is a real live rock and roll band. Whereas all the other bands are pretty much just a bunch of hacks. Sure, they can play their instruments, but they can't make any music that can hold my attention for more than about 2 minutes. It's kind of the Dave Matthews Band Syndrome (DMBS) that Bennett once diagnosed. All of the musicians are obviously very gifted at playing their instruments, but they don't know how to make music with them. See also Joe Satriani.
Some caveats.....Splitlip Rayfield was actually pretty good, if you like 600 mph bluegrass about cars and trucks. Neko Case was also very good. Apart from that though...I have to agree with someone else who commented on the Lawrence.com webpage who was questioning why anyone would pay $120 to see a bunch of no-name bands (Wilco and some other notable exceptions excepted) that normally couldn't even half-fill a pub for a $5 show in downtown Lawrence. I didn't wait around to see String Cheese. I was tired of hippies by then. It sucks to be at an outdoor concert and not be able to breathe because there is so much smoke (tobacco and otherwise).
So, it's official. Wilco is one of the (few) great bands of our time. I sort of remember a forgettable performance (I know..) they put on in D.C. in 2000. They must have been tired. Or depressed. Or really drunk. They were outstanding on Saturday. I wish they would have played longer, and I wish they would have chosen to play a few more songs from their back catalog, rather than Spiders (Spiders was cool live, but for my bucks I like short, tight songs better than 12-minute long, feedback-ridden freakouts), and I wish they had done a Uncle Tupelo reunion, since Son Volt was there, but all in all, it was a great show. They played most of the songs off A Ghost is Born, a few off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (War on War, Jesus, etc., and, predictably, Heavy Metal Drummer), two off Summer Teeth, only one off Being There (Kingpin - sadly not Forget the Flowers or The Lonely 1), and none off A.M.. They also played two off the Mermaid Avenue albums - Airline to Heaven (they must be fond of this one, because I remember them playing it in D.C., too), and Hesitating Beauty, which Abbie so inexplicably and adorably titled My Dear Elaine, on the mix-tape she made me.
After seeing them live, I will likely spend the next few weeks re-listening to all their old (and not-so-old) albums. When I first heard Wilco (back in about '96), I remember thinking that they seemed like a band that would be around for awhile - a feeling that was reinforced after I bought Being There, and spent about 3 months incessantly absorbing it. I no longer have any doubt as to whether they will be remembered as a great band. They will be.
Oh yeah. And some guy died. At the festival.
Yeah, I know. Europe pictures and stuff. I'm working on it. Kinda.
-m
Comments:
Dude, Split Lip Rayfield is fantastic. They play in Lincoln just about every other week, it seems. I don't know what they were doing at a hippie-dippy-jam-band festival.
This has nothing to do with Wakarusa, the festival, but everything to do with Wakarusa the river. Go take a canoe down it sometime if you get a chance. I remember floating under a tree with 7 Great Blue Heron nests in it. Pretty awesome. Also this: The name of Plague of Daisies before we were Plague of Daisies was "The Mighty Wakarusa." Personnel changes led to the band name change, but I always liked that one.
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